Former DPW superintendent brought out of retirement for part-time post

by AMY ROBB

Lancaster-Depew Editor

John Wojcik John Wojcik, a retired superintendent for Depew’s Department of Public Works, was brought on as an interim part-time supervisor for the same department at Tuesday night’s Village Board meeting.

The position will be in place during legal proceedings between the village and Phillip Fleck, DPW supervisor, who was put on administrative leave in mid-June.

The board had to create the position first, outlining the responsibilities of a part-time position within specifications of the Erie County Civil Service list.

“We needed someone to cover the DPW; this made a lot of sense, Village Administrator Maureen Jerackas said.

“We wanted to make sure our residents are taken care of, and as a resident myself, I will say that I was very happy with John as the superintendent,” she said.

Wojcik has 38 years of experience in the department, starting out as a laborer and moving on to crew chief, assistant superintendent and finally superintendent for 12 years.

“I’m happy to be back. I’ve expressed to this board and to the previous board that if there’s anything they ever needed or wanted my help in, that I would make myself available,” said Wojcik.

“They wanted to see if I could come on board for a while and I agreed. Right now it’s a yearlong contract. Depending on how the situation goes it may be terminated in one month, it may be terminated in six months.”

Jerackas, who had been helping with paperwork and calls to the department in the meantime, will have Wojcik take over filing paperwork and providing a department head report at board meetings. Otherwise, established roles in the department will run as usual.

“I’m glad he’s here. The guys are phenomenal, the crew chiefs and the rest of the DPW are great, but you need people to come to the board meetings, to do the reports, to send stuff to the DEC,” said Jerackas.

“John will still communicate to me what’s happening in the DPW so that I’m aware of what’s going on, and I will help in any way, because obviously with him being part time, if he needs assistance I will be there.”

The position could be extended beyond a year, but Jerackas doesn’t expect that to be the case.

The salaried position is set at $25,000 per year.

In another matter, the board approved a local law amendment to implement parking restrictions on both sides of Preston Street from 2 to 4 p.m., following a public hearing on Sept. 29.

The next Depew Village Board meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at 85 Manitou St. in Depew. There is always a work session one hour prior to each meeting.